The Riding Mountain Artists’ Residency gives Manitoban artists time to focus on their work in the beautiful natural setting of Riding Mountain National Park.
The first artist-in-residence for the 2025 season is Sara Bulloch. Ahead of her time in the historic Deep Bay Cabin, Sara answered a few of our questions about her work and how she’ll be spending her residency.
MAC: Tell us about yourself as an artist and your practice.
Sara: I’m a filmmaker and editor in Winnipeg. My films often explore mental health, identity and relationships and have screened with Gimli Film Fest, the8fest, Les Mains Gauches, and more. I enjoy creating with a variety of styles or genres including narrative like Hot Dog Guy, documentary like Ma Nishma Manitoba, and experimental/analog like No Backsies.
I’ve edited films and series such as Aberdeen (TIFF 2024), Alter Boys (CBC), Ancient Bodies (Net Geo), and many local short films. I edited full-time with Farpoint Films from 2018-2024 and am now freelance. I’m also experienced with motion graphics, cinematography/photography, and community organizing.
Tell us about your project — what will you be working on in the Deep Bay Cabin?
I will be writing a screenplay called Inside Her, a thriller about a young woman, who just had an abortion, trying to move on with her life but experiencing strange mental and physical phenomenon. The film is inspired by my own abortion experience and the increasingly volatile political and cultural attitudes toward reproductive rights.
What is your relationship with the park, and what are you most looking forward to exploring?
I’ve camped in Riding Mountain a few times, and also created a film poem and artist profile video for poet Amber O’Reilly’s residency in 2019. Also when I was younger my family would sometimes rent cabins and visit the park for activities, ice cream, and video rentals. As a kid I was quite intimidated by camping but as a young adult I often found it lovely to disconnect, reflect, and just chill. I love taking digital or analog photos of nature and paying more attention to my surroundings. Visiting and documenting Amber’s residency in 2019 was a great experience and inspired me to apply years later.
How do you hope the park will influence or inspire your project or practice?
I often have multiple freelance or personal projects on the go, so having time and space to just write/research this film is an awesome opportunity. A peaceful environment can be very creatively motivating and the isolated setting can help me put myself in the mindset of my protagonist. I also just love staring at water and sky. It helps my brain in so many ways.
Anything else you’d like to share with readers and the Riding Mountain National Park community?
Some of my photography (and perhaps a film) will be exhibiting with Wasagaming Community Arts later in June. The poem film I created for Amber O’Reilly’s residency, Deep Bay, will likely be part of my public presentation along with some of my other films. Also last fall/winter I edited an upcoming short film by Elena Sturk-Lussier, Slurp, which is a thriller about a writer in a cabin, so that’s surreal and fun.
The Riding Mountain Artists’ Residency is offered in partnership by the Manitoba Arts Council and Riding Mountain National Park.
Interested in the staying in the Deep Bay cabin? Find out how to apply to the Riding Mountain Artists Residency through the Learn – Residencies grant stream. Apply by January 15, 2026 for a residency in the summer of 2026.
